Today's post will be for the cook with us week 13 contest. Before I present my dish I would like to thank the organisers for organising this wonderful contest weekly! So thanks to @chefsteve , @pandamama and @offoodandart. And now for the dish!!
I present to you: Japanese style onion garden
Onions is one of my favourite ingredients to be used. There are so many way I would cook the onions and ever way has its own unique characteristics. Apart from being versatile, the cheap and adds good flavour to the overall dish.
When I think onions, first thing in my mind is French onion soup. And when I think what goes well with onions I think garlic. Somehow these two ingredients just makes me wanna create another Japanese dish. I always goes with my guts feeling so I made a Japanese dish.
what's in it.
charred, baked onion petal
This element will act as a cup for my onion soup, it will gives a little crunch while you mix the onions with the soup. As all of us know, raw onions are very spicy and and upset the stomach. Therefore, I have slice the onions in half with the skin on and charred in on a cast iron pan. To get rid for the unpleasant spiciness, I baked it in a low temperatures oven just enough to mellow down the hash spiciness while maintaining its structure. The outcome is a onion that has raw onion flavour but a mellower spiciness and juicy crunchy texture.
homemade soft seaweed bean curd
Bean curd by its own is pretty plain, however that's a good thing if you know how to make use of that. It absorbs flavour like a sponge and it has a pleasantly smooth mouthfeel. To make the bean curd more flavourful and savoury, I added dried seaweed into the soy milk.
Don't get confused with the regular firm soupy bean curd with this soft bean curd. Soft bean curd is much more simpleir to make. All you need is to make soy milk from soaked soy bean. This is done by blending the soaked soy bean and cook them with water while skimming the foam on the top. Filter the mixture with cheesecloth and add gypsum powder dissolved in water. At this stage I added the dried seaweed. Pour it into a mold and let it chill and set.
braised shiitake mushrooms
This is to give the dish a stronger savoury taste, contributing its mushroom scent and of course for the bouncy mouthfeel. Its prepared by cooking it with soy sauce, ginger, garlic, mirin, Spring onions, kombu and soy sauce. The braising liquid is reserved for the onion broth.
onion soup consume
Inspired by the French onion soup, but the French version is usually made with beef broth. Inorder to make it vegetarian friendly, instead of beef broth I used the reserved braising liquid from braising the mushroom. Procedure are the same as the traditional French onion soup. Firstly sweat the chopped onions until it's brown and sticky, then add the reserved braising liquid. Let it simmer for 30 minutes then strain it though a cheesecloth to remove all the solid ingredients leaving behind a clear soup.
fried shallots
Fried shallots are one of the most used ingredients in Chinese cuisine. It's used to flavour dishes. For me I used it to add that caramelized flavour as well as giving a crispy texture to the dish.
top: baked onion purée
this is mainly to give intense sweetness to the dish at the same time contributing its lighter onion flavour. It's made by baking the whole onion in it skin in a 200c oven for 45minutes. Ones it's done baking, blend it in a smooth purée. Pass it though a Steive to make it smoother. This will be piped into the soup and beside the soft soy-seaweed bean curd.
bottom: black garlic oil, seaweed vegetarian mayonnaise
Black onion oil may be usually to many especially when you see how's made. But I promise you it's actually one of the flavouring agent used in Japan for their ramen broth.
Mayonnaise is made from emulsifying oil with liquid with a emulsifier. So first is to make the black garlic oil. This may me surprising to many, but to make the black garlic oil you must first fry the chopped garlic until it's slightly burned. Blend with the oil it's been cooked in and you have the black garlic oil. For the liquid part I infused dried seaweed into soy milk I reserve from the soft soy bean curd. I add soy lecithin into the seaweed-soy milk and slowly pouring the black garlic oil into it while whisking with a balloon whisk. Once reach my desire viscosity then it's considered done.
food porn time
Great entry Alan this dish looks so succulent. Best of luck this week.
Thanks!
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Ok so you have achieved so many levels of wow. First let me say that you have nailed the themes of vegan and onion as a main course combining the two perfectly instead of picking one.
Now let's move on. You have created something that looks like a painting. Just beautiful. Next you have layered an amazing broth with a color that shows it's flavor and you have used it's source for little bowls. You have made flavored bean curd which I didn't know could be made outside of a factory. They look awesome. The black garlic and the veggie mayo....I am soo hungry for this.
Stunning all over the place. You never ceased to amaze me our dear Magic!
Wow, that's really is a very detail feedback! Thanks for taking the time to do so! I really really appreciate all those compliments!
This dish is just packed with flavors. You have umami from the mushroom and seaweed, sweetness from slow cooking the onions, and the crispy fried shallots adds a savory element to this dish. Your creativity just keeps going and going @alansthoughs. Love the look of the seaweed tofu. Looks like marbles in a stone garden. YUM!
I didn't realise that the soy bean curd like marble, but now you said it it actually does! Thank for all those compliment, I am glade you get the reason behind all my ingredients.
Glorious as always! That broth looks incredible and I'm so envious of your silky purees. You've really set the bar with this one!
Well what can I say, you inspired me to do good!
Done good you most certainly did!
yours is mind blowing too!!!
What a beautiful and inspiring post this is vegan restaurant food
i am so happy you think so, thanks!!
Wow Alan, this is absolutely stunning, your food never fails to amaze! Good luck!
I need to thank all of you for giving myself a reason to do my best, all off you are just production such amazing dish!!
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Hi @alansthoughs! Thanks for your beautiful and artistic entry! Onions are my favorite ingredient. The consommé is my favorite part of your dish. What a deep and rich flavor it must have from the addition of mushrooms. The other elements help to make for a beautiful plating. Thank you for sharing your dish with us!
My pleasure!! Thanks for compliments!
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(@justatouchfey) ((.)ω(.))
Beautiful and interesting as usual. Love the flavors you incorporated into this dish. Each ingredient has something different and flavorful to contribute to the whole experience.
I'm curious about the tofu with seaweed and would like to try making it sometime. Also love the fried shallots! It contributes another layer to the dish.
Well thought out dish again @alansthoughs! Thanks for your delicious entry and so looking forward to your next one!
The tofu I made it not the regular firm one, it like panna cotta( soft and giggly ) the traditional name for this type of bean curd is called taufu far, it's actually served as a dessert with Palm sugar.
Thanks for having me and those great compliment!
Oh, I used to have that tofu (I think it's the same one) growing up in the Philippines. We would serve it hot with a dark sweet syrup and tapioca balls. Love that dessert!
Your onions bring back memories of an entry I submitted for SIC last year. The theme was onions so I used the ingredient in several different ways. When you get a chance, check it out: https://steemit.com/steemit-ironchef/@offoodandart/steemit-iron-chef-15-onions-galore. :)
Yea it's very similar to that just without the tapioca pearls.
You're Philippines? That such a interesting fact about you, are you still staying there?
I checked out ur onion dish, it's just stunning, so many interesting flavour combination and techniques to prepare the onions!! Looks like I am not the first person who use the onion petal as a bowl....haha
Thank you! Sometimes we don’t even remember everything we’ve made but the photos are good reminders 😊. Oh, and I’m not the first person either to use the onions that way 😐.
I was born in the US, grew up in the Philippines but moved to the US after college. I visit the Philippines when I can. I have a trip planned for November this year. Looking forward to it.
If that’s the case, that mean onion petal is made to be used that way :)
So u pretty much know how to speak their language?? Is your parents born in Philippines?
Looking forward to see your blog about ur vacation in Philippine that is if you manage to write about it :)
Yes, I do speak Tagalog, the Philippine language and my parents are Filipinos.
Hope to be able to post about the vacation. There's lots of great photo opportunities there.
Another WOW entry. Week by week we have seen the level of entries rise. We are loving the community and the connections you are all starting to build - keep up the hard work @alansthoughs
Thanks!!@pandamama
Wow! This looks amazing! I guess the taste is delicious but the presentation is soo beautiful! Definitely this would have been one of my favorites in round #13!
Thanks @pusteblume!! You're too kind, there are a lot of good once out there!
That's true!